Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

Finally, the medical end use category also rates high (here, third) and not unexpectedly
so, because of the virtual explosion in medical use of such computer technology as
digital-imaging techniques and the like. The microminiaturization of electronic circuits as
well as mechanical features, are especially adaptable to medical needs. The development
of the Programmable Implantable Medication System (PIMS) and its substantial potential,
along with digital imaging used for both brain and whole body scans and subsequent
diagnostic procedures are only partial evidence of the [27] explosive growth of this type
of technology in the future.
Of 441 separate instances of the application of NASA-sponsored or provided technology,
the study team was able to identify 368 cases where the respondents acknowledged
that there were contributions toward savings or sales—this amounted to 83 percent of the
total cases identified. Of the cases in which sales or savings were acknowledged, 109
(25 percent) involved circumstances in which the respondent either could not estimate
sales or savings or was unwilling to because of the proprietary nature of the information.
Of the 259 cases in which the respondents were able to identify sales or savings, it was
possible to identify contributions toward sales of $21.3 billion ($21,331,190,000).
Contributions toward savings were $315.7 million ($315,749,000). Total contributions
toward sales and savings were $22 billion. This figure excludes nearly $12 billion in sales
that included NASA-furnished technology, but which were given as total sales figures for
a company, including all products. . . .
Discussions with corporate officials revealed 67 instances in which a product, process,
or even an entire company would not have come into existence had it not been for the
NASA-furnished technology. These represented 18 percent of all cases involving sales/savings
and amounted to $5.1 billion in sales/savings. . . .
[28] Other Benefits of Economic Value
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 563
Once one has an estimate of additional revenues, it is possible to postulate the revenues
or jobs (created or saved) associated with that revenue. Using standard economic
projection procedures, it is estimated the Federal Government received corporate income
tax receipts of nearly $356 million as a result of these spinoffs and that over 352,000 jobs
were created or saved. And these jobs were in relatively high skilled categories. . . .
Document III-31
Document title: H. R. Hertzfeld, “Technology Transfer White Paper,” internal NASA document,
June 23, 1978.
Source: Documentary History Collection, Space Policy Institute, George Washington
University, Washington, D.C.
This internal paper was intended to assess a program called FEDD (For Early Domestic
Dissemination) that NASA initiated in the 1970s during the early years of the Nixon administration.
The intent was to make U.S. space technology available to American firms first. The U.S. balance of
trade was turning negative during the period, and such programs represented an effort to stem the
flow of American technology abroad. The FEDD program was ineffective, and this memo addressed
the issues involved.